Chivalry of a Dark Knight [Batman x Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry]

CH7: First Impressions (prt 6)

The boy screamed in fright and ran as the giant bat let out a thunderous screech and gave chase, crawling its way towards him with its claw at the anterior of its folded wings. Young Bruce panted as he worked his legs, he could still hear the thing gaining on him.

As he covered more ground, the terrain of the cave floor became more rocky and soon it was rocky enough to trip the boy and send him on his stomach. Young Bruce quickly twisted himself and crawled backwards, his eyes were wide in terror as the monster advanced towards him. His movement paused when something landed behind him with a heavy thud and a wide shadow covered over him.

The bat stopped in its tracks and squatted guardedly while letting out an enraged hiss towards the interloper. Young Bruce tentatively looked behind him to see that towering over him was another shadowy monster, but this one was in the form of a raven. Its angry eyes and the inside of its beak were also glowing like its counterpart, to whom it challenged with an earth-shaking caw.

The boy ducked his head as the bat flew and attacked the raven head on. The colossal beasts tussled, beating their wings as well as clawing at each other like they were two aviary predators fighting over their prey. Young Bruce attempted to use this moment to his advantage and escape but the raven spotted him and broke away from its opponent to fly after him, Bruce struggled to put some distance behind him but the monster bird gained on him easily and was about to use its sharp talons to pluck him off the ground.

But it was the bat that did so instead, after ramming itself against the raven and then seizing Bruce by his shoulders. The eight year old was carried high up into a ceiling-less void but was dropped when the raven rammed into its foe and quickly grabbing him by his arm with its talons. The bat recovered quickly and then seized the boy's other arm.

Bruce screamed in agony as the two flying beasts were engaged in a tug of war with him in the center. If they kept this up, he was sure that they were going to rip him in two. Trying to free himself, he managed to slip his arms from the sleeves of his coat jacket but as a result, he was now plummeting from fifty feet in the air!

The two creatures discarded his jacket and dive bombed after him. Despite the bat's efforts, it was the raven who held the advantage this time and was fast enough to reach the boy and snatch him first. Bruce felt the strong winds rush through him as the monstrous bird continued to swoop down, his heart hammered wildly as he expected the raven to dash him against the ground. But suddenly the bird spread its wings and slowed its descent towards what Bruce thought was a burning inferno. It was just when it pulled up above the flames when it released its quarry, sending the eight year old boy tumbling and rolling over a cobblestone path.

Young Bruce winced when he came to a stop. The remains of his funeral wear was torn in places and his exposed skin was bruised and scraped but he was otherwise fine. He pushed himself to his knees, flinching at the heat around him and observed his surroundings.

It looked like he was in in the middle of a large medieval-style town that was in flames but what really caught the boy's attention was what was in front of him. The cobble road he was on lead to a town square, the center of which was a statue monument depicting a man, a woman and a little girl. It was at the base of that statue where she stood with her back turned to him, a woman wearing an intricate red dress with long glistening dark blue hair that flowed along the flying glowing embers.

"Who...who's there?" the boy managed to croak out.

The woman glanced back, her eyes were obscured and her midnight tresses continued to undulate in the wind. Her attire was fully visible when she turned towards him, she had a voluptuous figure and the cloth that framed her wasn't just a dress, it had an armor chest plate over a corset and a slit in the skirt to allow free movement of her legs which were adorned with leather high boots. She looked like she came from royalty but it was what was in her hand that caught his attention. It was a certain unremarkable looking sword, Branwen.